Winding, unwinding and tensioning apparatus

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to filament tension regulation apparatus useful to regulate the tension in a moving filament such as during the winding or unwinding or a web or threadlike filament. The invention relates further to a web guide roller assembly for assisting in the movement of a web relative to a roll of the web material such as a splicing roll apparatus useful in web unwinding or a lay-on roll apparatus for use in web winding. The invention further relates to web unwinding apparatus, to web winding apparatus, and to web winding and unwinding apparatus involving combinations of the splicing roll apparatus, the lay-on roll apparatus, and web tension regulating apparatus. The filament tension regulation apparatus comprises a roller mounted for rotation in members disposed at the ends of the roller, the members being supported by pivot arms extending upwardly and downwardly of the member. The arms are of equal length and the roller is centrally located on the member between the pivot areas such that the roller is capable of horizontal motion supported by the pivot arms. The moving filament engages the roller in such a way that horizontal force is applied to the roller in a direction in opposition to a desired pre-determined horizontal force. Changes in filament tension relative to the pre-determined horizontal force cause horizontal motion of the roller and this motion is utilized to adjust tension to a desired value such as by changing filament speed. The web guiding roll apparatus comprises a pair of rollers mounted for rotation and pivotally supported by pivot arms as in the case of the filament tension regulating device. The rollers, however, are located at points symmetrical about a point midway between the pivot arms and thus will undergo pivoting motion. The arms are of equal length and the rollers are preferably of equal mass whereby the device is easily moved into and out of engagement with a web roll for splicing during unwinding or for forming a nip during winding.

United States Patent 91 Melead WINDING, UNWINDING AND TENSIONINGAPPARATUS James J. Melead, West Chester, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis.

[22] Filed: Apr. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 244,300

Related U.S.' Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 83,730, Oct.26, 1970, Pat. No.

[75] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. 242/755, 226/195 [51] Int. Cl B65h 25/04, B65h 25/22 [58]Field of Search 242/755, 75, 75.51, 75.52, 242/7553; 226/25, 44, 195

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,283,629 11/1966 Huck226/195 3,224,830 12/1965 Mitchell 242/755 2,775,415 12/1956 Rush242/755 Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant ExaminerEdward J.McCarthy Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Larson, Taylor & Hinds [57] ABSTRACT 1Mar. 12, 1974 rial such as a splicing roll apparatus useful in webunwinding or a lay-on roll apparatus for use in web winding. Theinvention further relates to web unwinding apparatus, to web windingapparatus, and to web winding and unwinding apparatus involvingcombinations of the splicing roll apparatus, the lay-on roll apparatus,and web tension regulating apparatus. The filament tension regulationapparatus comprises a roller mounted for rotation in members disposed atthe ends of the roller, the members being supported by pivot armsextending upwardly and downwardly of the member. The arms are of equallength and the roller is centrally located on the member between thepivot areas such that the roller is capable of horizontal motionsupported by the pivot arms. The moving filament engages the roller insuch a way that horizontal force is applied to the roller in a directionin opposition to a desired pre-determined horizontal force. Changes infilament tension relative to the pre-determined horizontal force causehorizontal motion of the roller and this motion is utilized to adjusttension to a desired value such as by changing filament speed. The webguiding roll apparatus comprises a pair of rollers mounted for rotationand pivotally supported by pivot arms as in the case of the filamenttension regulating device. The rollers, however, are located at pointssymmetrical about a point midway between the pivot arms and-thus willundergo pivoting motion. The arms are of equal length and the rollersare preferably of equal mass whereby the device is easily moved into andout of engagement with a web roll for splicing during unwinding or forforming a nip during winding.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures WINDING, UNWINDING AND TENSIONING APPARATUSThis is a division, of application Ser. No. 83,730 filed Oct. 26, 1970now U.S. Pat. No. 7,692,251.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to winding andunwinding apparatus. In one aspect, the invention relates to apparatusfor the regulation of the tension of a moving filament, such as a web.In another aspect, the invention relates to web tension controlapparatus useful in web unwinding and web winding. In still anotheraspect, the invention relates to web guiding roll apparatus useful insplicing during web unwinding and laying-on during winding. In yetanother aspect the invention relates to web unwinding apparatusincluding a splicing roll assembly and web tension regulating apparatusaccording to the invention, to web winding apparatus including a lay-onroll assembly and web tension regulating apparatus according to theinvention, and to a web unwinding and winding apparatus involving webtension regulating apparatus and web guide roller apparatus according tothe invention.

Web unwinding and winding operations are well known and involve eitherthe unwinding of a web from a roll of the web material or the winding ofa length of web onto a core to form a roll of the web material. The webmaterial is under some tnesion and in most cases web tension must becontrolled for effective winding or unwinding. It will be apparent thatthe size of the roll will continuously change during the operation. Forexample, in winding, the roll increases in size. Therefore, at constantRPM, the web speed continuously increases which increases web tension asthe web is wound resulting in a relatively loose web in the innerportion of the web and a relatively tight outer portion. This can resultin extremely poor roll characteristics, web breakage, and the like.Where the web is elastic, such as a plastic sheet, increased tension canresult in drawing the sheet which reduces its thickness and crosssection. The operation is additionally complicated by the fact that thewinding and unwinding operations are continuous. That is, after a rollis unwound, the leading end of a fresh roll is spliced onto the trailingend of the unwound roll in a suitable device such as a turret unwinderwhich sequentially indexes fresh rolls into a splicing position.Similarly, after a roll is wound, a continuous winder such as a turretwinder is used to index an empty core into position for winding andafter a roll is fully wound, the moving web is severed and the leadingedge is keyed to the empty core.

' In order to control the web tension in these devices, there areseveral known web tension regulating devices which generally function tomonitor web tension relative to pre-determined value which value may beconstant or may vary as the operation proceeds. For example, in windingan elastic web it is frequently desireable to decrease web tension asthe run progresses while unwinding is frequently performed at constantweb tension. Once a change relative to a desired value of web tension isdetected, the web tension is adjusted to the desired value in anyconvenient way such as by changing web speed, by changing web drag, orboth. While several devices, such asdancer rolls, transducers, and thelike, are known to detect changes in web tension, these devices have oneor more disadvantages such as lack of sensitivity, lack of forgiveness,"excess friction, and the like.

It is also known in winding and unwinding a web to use a web guidingroller. In winding, a roller is used to lay a leading web end on a freshcore by forming a pres sure nip into which the web end is introduced.After the roll is initially formed on the fresh core, the lay-on rolleris usually spaced from the winding roll surface. In a continuousoperation, the roller is moved from a position in adjacency with thesurface of a wound roll to form a pressure nip with a fresh core. Inunwinding, a splicing roll positioned in engagement with the moving webis moved towards a fresh web roll to engage the trailing end of theunwound roll with the leading end of the fresh roll. The splicing rollis subsequently removed from its splicing position in readiness for thenext splicing operation. The lay-on rolls and splicing rolls usedheretofore are usually pivotally mounted and suffer from severaldisadvantages such as the necessity of large forces to move theserollers rapidly from one position to another as in the case ofcontinuous winding and unwinding.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a filament tensionregulating apparatus which is free from the disadvantages mentionedabove. It is a further object to provide a filament tension regulatingapparatus having a roller which is mounted for rotation on a memberpivotally mounted in such a way that the roller undergoes horizontalmotion with minimum friction. It is still a further object to provide aweb guide roller assembly, such as a splicing roll assembly or a lay-onroll assembly, for guiding motion of a web relative to a roll of webmaterial which is free from the disadvantages of such assemblies knownheretofore. It is still a further object to provide a lay-on rollassembly for winding and a splicing roll assembly for unwinding whichare free from several of the disadvantages for such assemblies knownheretofore. It is still a further object of the present invention toprovide improved web winding apparatus including the improved webtension regulating apparatus and lay-on roll apparatus according to thepresent invention, to provide improved web unwinding apparatus includingthe improved web tension regulating apparatus and splicing rollapparatus according to the presentinvention, and to provide an improvedweb unwinding and winding apparatus including the improved tensionregulating device, the improved splicing roll device, and the improvedlay-on roll device according to the present invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The foregoing objects and otherswhich will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art areachieved by an improved filament tension regulating device, an improvedweb guide roll assembly, and winding and unwinding apparatus includingsame.

A filament tension regulating aparatus according to the presentinvention includes a roller which is mounted for rotation in memberspivotally supported in such a manner that the roller is moveablehorizontally in a direction normal to the roller axis. The roller ispositioned with its axis transverse to a moving filament, such as a web,in engagement with the filament such that the filament applies ahorizontal force biasing the roller in a horizontal directionsubstantially normal to the roller axis due to tension in the movingfilament. The roller is mounted for rotation at each end by a memberwhich is pivotally secured at a first pivot point to a first pivot armextending generally upward and at a second pivot arm extending generallydownward. The pivot arms and member are mounted for motion in a verticalplane transverse to the roller axis. Each pivot arm is pivotally securedto a fixed support thereby pivotally supporting the member. The pivotarms are of equal length and the roller axis lies at the midpoint of aline connecting the first and second pivot points on each roller supportmember. The roller is thus capable of moving for a limited distance in apurely horizontal plane in a direction normal to the roller axis. Thepivot arms and member forming the support for the roller are generallyin the configuration of a Z turned on its side and hence the supportassembly will be referred to hereinafter as a Z bar. The filamenttension regulating device alao includes means to bias the roller with adesired amount of force in a horizontal direction opposite to thatinduced by web tension and thus the horizontal motion or position of theroller gives an indication of actual web tension relative to a desiredweb tension. The pivoting support provides a massive dancer rolloperating horizontally with minimal friction which is very responsive tochanges in web tension thus providing close control.

A guide roll assembly according to the invention includes a pair of Zbar support assemblies arranged as in the case of the tension regulatingassembly. In this case, however, the bar includes a pair of rollers,mounted at or adjacent the first and second pivot points respectively atpoints located symmetrically with respect to a point located midway ofsaid first and second pivot points. The rollers are preferably of equalmass thus providing a balanced unit. While each roller undergoespivoting motion in a direction normal to the roller axis, the rollersmove with little friction and, due to the balanced design, will assumeany given position under static conditions. Thus, the rollers are easilymoved when in contact with a running web. The guide roll assembly isparticularly useful as a lay-on roll or a splicing roll in which casethe device will include means to move the roll into adjacency with,respectively, a fresh core for winidng or a fresh roll for unwinding.Web winding and unwinding apparatus according to the invention arereadily integrated to form an improved continuous web winding andunwinding operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION There follows a detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention, together withaccompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the detaileddescription and accompanying drawings are provided solely for thepurpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment and that the invention iscapable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

FIG. I is a diagrammatic side elevation view of a web unwindingapparatus including a web tension regulating device and splicing rolldevice according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a portion of FIG. 1 showingdetails of a roll position indicator; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation view of a web winding apparatusincluding a web tension regulating device and lay-on roll deviceaccording to the present invention.

With reference to FIG. I, a filament tension regulating device accordingto the present invention includes a roller 1 having its ends supportedby a pair of Z bars 2, one only being shown in the drawing. The Z bar 2includes a member 3 to which is secured a first pivot arm 4 pivotallysecured to member 3 at a first pivot point 5, extending generallyupwards of a member 3 and pivotally secured to a fixed support by meansof a suitable pivot 6. The Z bar also includes a second pivot arm 7pivotally secured to the member 3 at a second pivot point 8, extendinggenerally downward of member 3 and pivotally secured to a fixed supportby means of a suitable pivot 9. Member 3 is thus pivotally supported bypivot arms 4 and 7 by means of pivots 5, 6, 8 and 9 for motion in aplane transverse to the roller axis. The roller 1 is mounted forrotation at a point midway between pivots 5 and 8 and pivot arms 4 and 7are equal in effective length. That is, the distance between pivots 5and 6 is the same as the distance between pivots 8 and 9. Upon pivotingmotion of the pivot arms 4 and 7 in the plane of the paper, it will beseen that the roller axis, and hence the roller, undergoes purehorizontal motion for a limited distance in a direction substantiallynormal to the roller axis. Thus, if arm 7 pivots to the right in thesense of FIG. 1, pivot point 8 will undergo at first a rising pivotingmotion to the right followed by a lowering pivoting motion to the right.At the same time, pivot point 5 will undergo a corresponding initiallowering pivoting motion followed by a rising pivoting motion and thus apoint midway between pivot points 5 and 8 will undergo pure horizontalmotion to the right. There is a finite limit to the extent of purehorizontal motion depending on the arm lemgth, the separation of pivotpoints 8 and 5, the location of pivot points 6 and 9 relative to oneanother and to pivot points 5 and 8. For example, upon continued motionto the right, the device would reach a point where upper arm 4 andmember 3 are in longitudinal alignment at which point further motionto-the right would be impossible. On continued motion to the left, lowerarm 7 and member 3 would ultimately be in longitudinal alignment andfurther motion would cause all points in member 3 to move downwardly.Between these limits, motion of roller 1 is limited to pure horizontalmotion and this motion is utilized to control filament tension accordingto the present invention. The device preferably includes stops to limitthe roller to horizontal motion between these limits.

A filament, such as a web 10 is drawn from a roll 11 by a pair of drivenrollers 12 driven by a motor not shown. The web traverses two rollers ofa web guiding roll assembly which is described in more detail below. Theweb is guided in engagement with the tension regulating roller 1 byconventional rollers 13, 14 such that tension in a moving web applies ahorizontal force to the right in the sense of FIG. 1 biasing the rollerin that direction due to tension in the moving web. By engaging the weband roller at equal angles with respect to the horizontal, asubstantially horizontal biasing force is ensured. In the embodimentshown, the web is essentially horizontal and the angles of web incidenceare each about 0 with respect to the horizontal, resulting in a wrap onthe tension roller. The angles of incidence can be varied to providemore or less wrap as desired.

Web tension is requlated according to the invention by the action of thetension regulation roller 1. For purposes of illustration it will beassumed that the web is to be unwound at a tension of 100 lbs. Since theweb is wrapped 1 80 around roller 1, the web moving at correct tensionapplies a total force of 200 lbs. to roller 1 to the right in the senseof FIG. 1. This is balanced according to the invention by an opposingforce applied to roller 1 by any suitable means such as a hydraulicpiston and cylinder 15 pivotally connected to upper pivot arm 4 and to afixed support 16 to apply a substantially horizontal biasing force toroller 1 to the left in the sense of FIG. 1. The biasing force should beevenly applied to the tension rollerl and, for this rea son, a secondpiston and cylinder is arranged on the other Z bar assembly in themanner shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the upper pivot arms and frames16 may be connected by members against which the iston force is applied.In this case, a symmetrical force can be applied against the tensionroller 1 by a single piston located between the Z bar assemblies midwayof the roller axis. Preferably, however, a plurality of pistons areprovided between the Z bar assemblies to apply a uniform force to theroller. In this illustrative example, pistons each having an effectivearea of one square inch are pivotally secured at a point 17 midwaybetween pivot points 5 and 6 on arm 4. Accordingly, hydraulic pressureof 40 psi in each cylinder will apply the proper force of 200 lbs tobias the roller 1 to the left in the sense of FIG. 1.

. With the roller 1 positioned at any given location in its path ofpurely horizontal motion, the roller will remain stationary if the webtension is the correctdesired value of 100 lbs. However, if the tensionincreases, roller 1 will move to the right and if tensio decreasesroller 1 will move to the left. Thus, the motion or relative position ofthe roller gives an indication of web tension relative to a desiredvalue established by the pressure in pistons 15. The piston pressure isset, of course, by conventional compressor means not shown and may be aconstant value as in the case of most unwinding operations, or it may bea changing value if desired. In any event, at any given moment in time,the position or motion of roller 1 is a measure of web tension relativeto a desired set value.

The position of the roller is conveniently detected relative to areference point which may be located at any point along the path ofhorizontal motion of the roller such as midway along the path. Thereference point can be indicated in any convenient manner such as byaligning a moving part of the Z bar assembly, such as the roller, witl afixed reference point such as frame 16. Preferably, however, a positionindicator 18 shown in more detail in FIG. 2, is provided. The indicatorcomprises a rotatably mounted pointer 18 actuated by a chain 19 engagingsprocket wheels 20 secured to shaft 22 which is secured to arm 4 andsprocket wheel 21 secured to pointer 18. Upon an increase in webtension, arm 4 pivots counterclockwise in the sense of FIGS. 1 and 2 andthis causes pointer 18 to rotate counterclockwise. A scale 23 isconveniently located on upport frame 16 to indicate the nature (increaseor decrease) of a change in tension. The magnitude of the change intension is indicated by the rate of motion of the roller 1 and pointer18' and the scale may include numerical values as shown to provide meansfor visually approximating the magnitude of web tension changes.

Once a change in web tension is indicated, correction is made to adjustweb velocity or web drag or both to adjust the web ltension back to itsdesired value. The adjustment is made until pointer 18 comes to rest atwhich time web tension will again be balanced by the opposing forceapplied by pistons 15.

In a preferred embodiment, the roller is returned to its zero referencepoint after each correction in web tension. For example, assuming thatpointer 18 moves counterclockwise from 0, indicating an increase in webtension, the operator adjusts web tension by reducing the speed ofrollers 12 or by reducing drag on the supply roll or on drag rolls notshown, or by several of these techniques. In a preferred embodiment, thetension is regulated by regulating web speed and the operator, in thegiven example, simply reduces wcb speed until motion of pointer 18 isarrested. As mentioned above, the pointer is preferably returned to itszero point and this is done by further reducing web speed until thepointer returns to its zero point. Web speed is then adjusted asrequired to maintain the pointer at its zero reference point.

While the device can be readily manually operated as described above,adjustment of web tension is preferably done automatically and it willbe understood that a control motion can easily be derived from motion ofany portion of the Z bar assembly. This motion can be used directly,such as by mechanical linkage, to control web tension, such as byadjusting web speed as described above. Preferably, however, atransducer is utilized to change the mechanical motion into a signal,such as a pneumatic or electrical signal, which is utilized in aconventional manner to regulate web tension. For example, sprocket wheel21 may comprise a rheostat controlling the speed of driven rollers 12. Avoltage increase in the rheostat setting resulting from clockwiserotation of sprocket wheel 21, for example, could be utilized toincrease the speed of driven rollers 12 until roller 1 returns to itszero reference position. It will be understood that conventional controlmeans are useful to control web tension from a signal derived frommotion of an element of the Z bar assembly. It will be furtherunderstood that such conventional controls include means to adjust therate of change in web tension in response to a rate of change in motion.

It will be apprent from FIG. 1 that the pistons 15 move arm 4 in pivotalmanner and thus the horizontal biasing force applied by the pistons isnot purely horizontal at all times. For this reason it is preferred,when a piston arrangement such as shown in FIG. 1 is used, to positionthe piston such that it acts horizontally when roller 1 is in its zeroreference position. Accordingly, if the motion of the roller is confinedto an area closely adjacent to the zero point, the force applied by thepistons will be essentially horizontal.

The horizontal biasing force applied by pistons 15 can, of course, beapplied by other means such as by springs, and at other locations suchas at lower arm 7 or member 3. The biasing force can be applied tomembers 3 at a point midway between pivot points 5 and 8 to obtain apurely horizontal biasing force. It is preferred, however, to locate thebiasing means remote from roller 1 to provide free access to the rollerand a short piston stroke.

The tension regulating device described in FIG. 1 can also be used toregulate web tension in a winding operation in a manner which will besubstantially selfexplanatory. The web will be fed as a continuous sheetfrom the left in the sense of the drawings and wound into a core locatedto the right in the sense of the drawings. A winding apparatus of thistype is shown in FIG. 3. The Z bar tension control assembly 30 isconstructed in the same manner as that in FIG. 1 and comprises upperpivot arm 31, lower pivot arm 32, member 33 linking the pivot arms, androller 34 mounted for rotation on member 33 midway between the pivotpoints for arms 31 and 32. The web is drawn generally to the rightthrough isolating driven nip rolls 34 in the sense of the drawing as aroll 35 of the web is being wound on driven core 36. A plurality of aircylinders 37 apply a biasing force to roller 34 to the right inopposition to the horizontal force induced to the left by tensions inthe moving web thus providing for web tension control by regulation ofweb winding speed, by the speed of drive nip rolls 34, or both. The webis guided around roller 34 with 180 wrap by means of conventional guiderollers 38, 39. Tension is regulated as described in connection with theunwinding device of FIG. I, a pointer 18' being provided, for example,to indicate motion of roller 34. The pointer assembly is convenientlyconstructed as shown in FIG. 2. The winding device shown in FIG. 3 alsoincludes a lay-on roll assembly 200 which will be described on moredetail below.

While the filament tension regulating device described above has beendescribed in detail with respect to winding and unwinding of a web, itwill be apparent that the Z bar assembly can be used to control tensionin any moving filament such as threadlike filaments. For example, thetension in moving fibers, wires, ropes, yarns and the like can beregulated by the Z bar device as well as webs such as sheets of plastic,paper, metal foil, and the like. The invention is particularly suited tocontrol the tension in moving webs of plastic, paper or laminations ofthese materials and is free from several of the disadvantages of thedevices used heretofore for this purpose. The device is particularlysuited to web unwinding or winding operations which are described inmore detail below in connection with splicing and lay-on rolls accordingto the invention useful, respectively, in these operations.

A splicing roll assembly according to the invention is indicated as 100in FIG. I, and comprises a pair of Z bar assemblies 101 one only beingshown in the drawing including a first upwardly extending pivot arm 102,a second downwardly extending pivot arm 103 and a member 104 connectedto the pivot arms at first and second pivot points 105 and 106. Theconstruction and arrangement of the Z bar assemblies is, to this point,identical with the Z bar tension assembly, pivot arms 102 and 103 beingequal in length. However, in the splicing roll assembly, a pair ofrollers 107, 108 are mounted for rotation adjacent pivot points 105 and106, the roller axis being located symmetrically of the mid point of aline connecting pivot points 105 and 106. The roller axes are preferablylocated on said line and conveniently located at pivot points 105 and106. The rollers are preferably of equal mass and mounted symmetricallysuch that the Z bar assembly is balanced. Thus, within the limits ofpure horizontal motion which is undergone by the point of member 104lying midway between first points and 106, the assembly is balanced andwill assume any given horizontal position under static conditions. Dueto the pivot type support, the rollers are very easily moved to the leftor right in a direction normal to the roller axis for assisting in themovement of the web 10 relative to roll 11 of the web material.

In a continuous web winding or unwinding operation, the Z bar assembly100 shown in FIG. 1 is used for splicing. A conventional turret unwinderis utilized to index a fresh web roll into an unwinding positionoccupied by roll 151 in FIG. 1. The splicing roll is then moved to theleft in the sense of FIG. 1 to engage the trailing edge of an unwoundweb roll with the rotating web of the fresh web roll. The web from thefresh roll is thus spliced onto the trailing end of the web from unwoundroll 11.

At the moment in time depicted in FIG. 1, a fresh roll 151 is inposition to be spliced onto the trailing end of an unwound web roll 1 1.The Z bar web splicing roll assembly includes means, such as a doubleacting air cylinder 109 capable of moving the splicing roll 107 to theleft in the sense of FIG. I to engage the trailing end of the unwindingweb from roll 11 with the rotating periphery of the fresh roll 151. Theinner surface of the leading end of the fresh roll is temporarilysecured, for example by adhesive, to the subadjacent web surface and theouter surface of the leading end of the fresh roll, or the adjacentsurface of the trailing end of the unwound roll, or both, is providedwith means, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive, to join the webs.

The turret unwinding device 150, of conventional type, includes variablespeed motors (not shown) to drive the roll cores 152 and 153counterclockwise. Fresh roll 151 is indexed into position for splicingas shown in FIG. 1 by rotating arm 155 clockwise about shaft 156 by amotor not shown. At the same time, unwound roll 11, which is mounted forrotation on shaft 157 on the other end of arm 155, rotates clockwiseinto the position shown in FIG. 1, with web 10 passing over one of twoguide rollers 158, 159 rotatably mounted on arm 160 positioned at rightangles with respect to arm 155. Guide rollers 158, 159 guide the webfrom the core to splicing roller 107 away from central supporting shaft156 of the turret unwinder. After roll 11 is nearly fully unwound, freshroll 151 is brouht to web speed. When a splice is to be made, aircylinder 109 is actuated to move the Z bar splicing roll assembly 100 tothe left to force aplicing roll 107 against the under surface of theunwound web 11 which is, in turn, pressed against the fresh roll, thesurface of which is moving at web speed. The pressure sensitive adhesivebetween the engaged sheets effects the splice and a knife 161 can beemployed if desired to sever the trailing end of the unwound roll. Theknife can be mounted in any convenient manner and may be rotatablymounted adjacent or at the axis of splicing roll 107. Once the splice iseffected, air piston 109 is actuated to move splicing roll 107 to theright and the Z bar guide roll assembly 101 is positioned such thatroller 107 is out of engagement with roll 151 during the unwindingthereof. As roll 151 unwinds, the core of unwound roll 11 is removedfrom arm 155 and replaced with a fresh roll. This fresh roll isultimately indexed into the splicing position occupied by roll 151 inFIG. 1 and the latter is simultaneously indexed into the positionoccupied by unwound roll 11, thus completing a splicing sequence. Thesystem is then in readiness for a further splicing sequence forcontinuous winding.

While the web is shown guided over the top of both rolls I07 and 108, itwill be understood that the web can pass over one and under the other.Further, while clockwise indexing has been illsutrated with the freshroll being spliced to the upper surface of the unwinding web, splicingto the under surface of that web can be effected simply bycounterclockwise indexing. If a knife for severing the trailing web endis utilized, it must be positioned for counterclockwise indexing andbottom splicing. The knife is therefore preferably mounted for severingaction for rotation about the axis of splicing roll 107 since only asingle knife is required for either top or bottom splicing, only itsdirection of rotation being changed. If a knife is otherwise mounted asshown in FIG. 1, the knife must be moveable between an operable positionfor bottom splicing and an operable position for top splicing or twoknives must be provided A lay-on roll assembly is shown in FIG. 3 as 200and comprises a pair of Z bar assemblies 201 one only being shown in thedrawing similar in configuration to the splicing roll assembly 101 shownin FIG. 1, including a first upwardly extending pivot arm 202, a seconddownwardly extending pivot arm 203 and a member 204 connected to thepivot arms at first and second pivot points 205 and 206. A dual actingair cylinder 207 is pivotally connected to a fixed frame support 207 andto lower pivot arm 203 of each Z bar 201 to move the roller 208 androller 209 to the right and left in the sense of the drawings in adirection normal to the roller axes in the same manner as the splicingroller assembly 100 in FIG. 1.

At the moement in time depicted in FIG. 3, the web 10' is being wound ona roll 35 rotatably driven in a counterclockwise direction on core 36rotatably mounted on arm 251 of a conventional turret winder 250. Web 10is guided from the Z bar tension unit 30 by means of roller 39underneath roll 209, over lay-on I roll 208 and forms a nip with thelay-on roll and a fresh core 211 driven by a motor (not shown) at webspeed. The web is guided around core 211 by means of guide roll 2'76forming part of an enveloping cutter assembly 275 to be described inmore detail below. The web then passes over guide roller 210 and to thewound roll 35.

In order to wind a fresh roll, arm 251 of conventional turret winder 250is rotated counterclockwise to index wound roll 35 and a fresh core 211into the positions shown in FIG. 3, with rollers 276 and 210 engagingthe web as shown. Air cylinders 207 are then actuated to force the Z barassembly to the right in the sense of FIG. 3 to form a pressure nipbetween lay-on roll 208 and the fresh core 211. When roll 35 issufficiently full, the enveloping knife system 275 is actuated to severthe web 10' and to envelop the several leading end of the web furtherabout the fresh core to initiate a new roll. The knife mechanism is thenwithdrawn, full roll 35 replaced on arm 251 by a fresh core, and thelay-on roll is moved to the left to any desired degree by the action ofair cylinders 207. Due to the balanced and low friction support of the Zbar lay-on roll assembly, it can be very easily urged against or awayfrom the web roll during winding as desired. For example, it can beurged against the roll to form a tight inner roll portion andprogressively relaxed as the roll is wound. Alternatively, the rolls canfloat free of any external influence, other than the moving web at aposition adjacent to the winding roll. When a roll is nearly fullywound, the lay-on roll will be displaced to the left of the positionshown in FIG. 3 and, at that time, the turret winder is indexedcounterclockwise to the position shown in FIG. 3. The lay-on roll isthen moved to the right to form a pressure nip with a fresh core thuscompleting a winding sequence. It is a feature of the present systemthat the lay-on roll is quickly moved easily from its full wound to itsstart wind position and is also capable of being easily preciselylocated at any position during winding. The system thus provides anefficient system for continuous web winding.

The enveloping web cutter 275 shown in FIG. 3 is a preferred web windingcutter. The cutter comprises two principal elements: a roller 276 and aknife 287. Roller 276 is positioned with its axis parallel to the axisof lay-on roll 208 and mounted for rotation adjacent the ends of arms277 pivotally secured to side frames 278 at a pivot 279 for motion in aplane transverse to the roller axis under the influence of air cylinder280 and linkages 281, 212. As in the case of the Z'bar assemblies, eacharm 277 is located at each side of the apparatus outside of the webpath. Arm 277 is moveable about pivot 279 from the extended positionshown in FIG. 3 with roller 276 guiding web 10 around fresh core 21 l,to a retracted position with roller 276 out of the outermost path oftravel of a indexing roll indicated by phantom line 283. A knife arm 284is pivotally mounted on each arm 277 at pivot 285 and is moveable underthe action of air cylinder 286 to move a knife blade 287 from itsretracted position shown in FIG. 3 along path 288 to cut the web 10' andto pass over and in close adjacency with fresh core 211 to guide theleading end of the cut web about the core. The underneath surface of theknife blade may be provided with suitable means such as a brush, toassist in engaging the web and core. The enveloping action caused by theknife has been found sufficient to effectively initiate a new web rollwithout an adhesive.

The unwinding and winding systems described above may be readilyintegrated. After a web is unwound, the web is processed in some manner,such as by a chemical or physical treatment, including coating,irradiating, heating, and the like, or by being laminated to a secondweb. In any event, it is frequently desirable to wind the processed web.The unwinding and winding system would therefore include: an unwindingstage including a Z bar splicing roll or Z bar unwinding tensionregulating device or both according to the present invention; means forprocessing the unwound web; and a winding stage including a Z barwinding tension regulating device, a Z bar lay-on roll, or both,according to the present invention. The web processing means is or maybe conveniently isolated from either or both the winding and unwindingstages by means of driven nip rolls.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for regulating the tension of a moving filament comprising:

a roller having its roller axis positioned transverse to the directionof motion of a moving filament such that the moving filament applies ahorizontal force against the roller in a first horizontal directionsubstantially normal to the roller axis clue to tension in the movingfilament;

a pair of roller support members rotatably supporting each end of saidroller;

a first pivot arm pivotally supporting each roller support memberpivotally secured to said roller support member at a first pivot pointand to a fixed support at a point higher than said first pivot point;

a second pivot arm pivotally supporting each roller support memberpivotally secured to said roller support member at a second pivot pointand to a fixed support at a point lower than said second pivot point;

said first and second pivot arms being of equal effective length andguiding said roller support member for motion in a vertical planetransverse to said roller axis;

said roller being mounted for rotation on said roller support memberswith the roller axis located at a point midway of a line through thefirst and second pivot points whereby said roller is moveable in ahorizontal path substantially normal to the roller axis; and

means for applying a pre-determined force against the rollersubstantially normal to the roller axis in a second horizontal directionopposite to said first direction to oppose the force on said roller dueto moving web tension whereby the roller moves in said horizontal pathin response to web tension relative to said pre-determined opposingforce.

2. Filament tension regulating apparatus according to claim 1 furtherincluding means to detect the horizontal position of said roller.

3. Filament tension regulating apparatus according to claim 2 whereinsaid roller position detecting means comprises means for detecting saidroller position relative to a reference point, said apparatus furthercomprising means to move said roller horizontally to said referencepoint from a position displaced from said reference point.

4. Filament tension regulating apparatus according to 6. Web tensionregulating apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said web tensionadjusting means comprises means for controlling web speed.

7. Web tension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 furtherincluding means for adjusting the predetermined horizontal force appliedto said roller.

8. Web tension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 furtherincluding means to guide the moving web to wrap said web around saidroller approximately 9. Web tension regulating apparatus according toclaim 5 wherein saidweb roll is a take up roll on which the web iswound.

10. Web tension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 wherein saidweb roll is a supply roll from which said web is unwound.

1. Apparatus for regulating the tension of a moving filament comprising:a roller having its roller axis positioned transverse to the directionof motion of a moving filament such that the moving filament applies ahorizontal force against the roller in a first horizontal directionsubstantially normal to the roller axis due to tension in the movingfilament; a pair of roller support members rotatably supporting each endof said roller; a first pivot arm pivotally supporting each rollersupport member pivotally secured to said roller support member at afirst pivot point and to a fixed support at a point higher than saidfirst pivot point; a second pivot arm pivotally supporting each rollersupport member pivotally secured to said roller support member at asecond pivot point and to a fixed support at a point lower than saidsecond pivot point; said first and second pivot arms being of equaleffective length and guiding said roller support member for motion in avertical plane transverse to said roller axis; said roller being mountedfor rotation on said roller support members with the roller axis locatedat a point midway of a line through the first and second pivot pointswhereby said roller is moveable in a horizontal path substantiallynormal to the roller axis; and means for applying a pre-determined forceagainst the roller substantially normal to the roller axis in a secondhorizontal direction opposite to said first direction to oppose theforce on said roller due to moving web tension whereby the roller movesin said horizontal path in response to web tension relative to saidpre-determined opposing force.
 2. Filament tension regulating apparatusaccording to claim 1 further including means to detect the horizontalposition of said roller.
 3. Filament tension regulating apparatusaccording to claim 2 wherein said roller position detecting meanscomprises means for detecting said roller position relative to areference point, said apparatus further comprising means to move saidroller horizontally to said reference point from a position displacedfrom said reference point.
 4. Filament tension regulating apparatusaccording to claim 1 further including means for changing filamenttension in response to changes in the horizontal position of saidroller.
 5. Filament tension regulating apparatus according to claim 1further including: means for moving a web in engagement with said rollerrelative to a roll of web material; and means responsive to the positionof said roller to adjust the tension of the web.
 6. Web tensionregulating apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said web tensionadjUsting means comprises means for controlling web speed.
 7. Webtension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 further includingmeans for adjusting the pre-determined horizontal force applied to saidroller.
 8. Web tension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 furtherincluding means to guide the moving web to wrap said web around saidroller approximately 180*.
 9. Web tension regulating apparatus accordingto claim 5 wherein said web roll is a take up roll on which the web iswound.
 10. Web tension regulating apparatus according to claim 5 whereinsaid web roll is a supply roll from which said web is unwound.